The Game of Life and How to Play It is Florence Scovel Shinn’s 1925 guide to spiritual law. Her message is that life is a game with rules you can learn, and that what you say, picture, give and forgive all come back to you. This study guide walks through all ten chapters in plain language, then hands you a workbook to try the ideas on your own life.
Listen While You Study
The audiobook is available on Next Level Soul TV. Play a chapter, then come back here for the notes and the workbook prompt.
Key Takeaways
- Life is a game of giving and receiving, not a battle.
- Words and mental pictures shape what returns to you. Shinn calls this the power of the word.
- Nonresistance means meeting a problem with calm instead of bracing against it.
- Forgiveness and love clear the way, because thoughts, words and deeds come back to the sender.
- Intuition and the Divine Design point each person toward their own best expression.
The Book at a Glance
| Detail | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Author | Florence Scovel Shinn (1871 to 1940) |
| First published | 1925, self-published |
| Chapters | 10 |
| Tradition | New Thought, with roots in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus |
| Audiobook | Available on Next Level Soul TV |
What Is The Game of Life and How to Play It About?
It is a short, practical guide to spiritual law. Shinn was a working illustrator who became a New Thought teacher, and she wrote in plain, direct sentences. Her claim is simple: the way you speak, think, give and forgive sets the terms of your life.
She does not ask you to believe it on her word. Each chapter pairs an idea with a small practice, which is why the book still works as a workbook a century later.
The Board: Ten Chapters
Each square is a chapter. Tap one to jump to its study notes.
- 1The Game
- 2Prosperity
- 3The Word
- 4Nonresistance
- 5Karma
- 6The Burden
- 7Love
- 8Guidance
- 9Divine Design
- 10Affirmations
Chapter-by-Chapter Study Notes
These notes are our own summary, written to help you follow the book. Each one ends with a small practice you can try this week.
The Game
Shinn opens by telling readers that most people treat life as a battle, and it is a game. She reads the Old and New Testaments as the rulebook, and she sums the rules up as giving and receiving.
The Law of Prosperity
Prosperity is presented as a law, not luck. In her telling, giving and faith keep supply moving, and fear of lack is what gets in the way.
The Power of the Word
Words and mental pictures shape what comes back to you. Shinn gives the imaging faculty a leading role in the game, so what you say and what you picture both count.
The Law of Nonresistance
Fighting a problem feeds it, according to Shinn. She teaches a calmer stance, meeting what is in front of you without bracing against it, and she grounds it in the line “Resist not evil.”
The Law of Karma and the Law of Forgiveness
Thoughts, deeds and words return to the sender, a pattern she likens to a boomerang. Forgiveness is how you stop old thoughts from circling back.
Casting the Burden (Impressing the Subconscious)
Shinn teaches that a worry can be handed over and replaced with a clear, simple idea, repeated until it settles in. The subconscious, in her view, takes its direction from what is impressed on it.
Love
Love is described as the strongest force in the game. She also warns that ill will toward others rebounds, which ties this chapter back to the boomerang idea.
Intuition or Guidance
Shinn encourages readers to ask for guidance and to follow inner leads, even small ones. The chapter treats intuition as a skill that strengthens with use.
Perfect Self-Expression or the Divine Design
Here she describes a perfect plan for each person’s life, and she suggests asking to be shown yours instead of forcing a version of your own.
Denials and Affirmations
The book closes with short statements meant to clear fear and set a direction. They work best when they are brief, believable and said often.
Key Ideas in Plain Language
| Idea | What It Means | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Giving and receiving | Life runs on exchange. What you put out is part of what comes back. | 1, 2 |
| The imaging faculty | The mind’s picture-making ability. Shinn says it plays a leading part in what happens to you. | 3 |
| Nonresistance | Not bracing against a situation. You meet it with calm and keep your energy for what you can do. | 4 |
| Karma | Thoughts, words and deeds return to the sender, sooner or later. | 5 |
| Impressing the subconscious | Repeating a clear idea until it takes root beneath conscious worry. | 6 |
| The Divine Design | The idea that each person has a perfect plan and a way of expressing it. | 9 |
| Denials and affirmations | Short statements used to dissolve a fear and to set a direction. | 10 |
Who This Book Is For
It suits anyone who wants a short, usable introduction to the idea that inner life shapes outer life. If you are new to New Thought, it is a gentle place to start. If you have read it before, the workbook gives you a reason to read it again with a pen in hand.
A Ten-Day Way to Use It
- Listen to or read one chapter a day.
- Read that chapter’s study note here.
- Answer its workbook prompt before bed.
- On day eleven, reread your answers and pick one practice to keep.
Your Workbook
Your answers save on this device as you type. They are not sent anywhere. Use the copy button to move them into your own notes.
Watch More on Next Level Soul TV
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Keep Going
- The Laws They Don’t Teach audio course, which draws on Shinn’s work lesson by lesson.
- Best Spiritual Audiobooks: 10 Essential Listens (Plus 2 Bonus)
- Top 20 Spiritual Books That Will Change Your Life
Sources and Further Reading
Go Deeper with NLS Mastery: The Divine Law of Love
Shinn teaches that love is the force that makes the whole game work. If you want to take that idea further, Anjie Hipple teaches it in The Divine Law of Love, part of NLS Mastery. Watch the course preview below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Game of Life and How to Play It about?
It is a short spiritual guide that treats life as a game of giving and receiving. Florence Scovel Shinn teaches that your words, thoughts and actions come back to you, and she offers practices such as forgiveness, nonresistance and affirmations for playing well.
Who wrote The Game of Life and How to Play It, and when?
Florence Scovel Shinn wrote it. She was an American artist, illustrator and New Thought teacher who lived from 1871 to 1940. She published the book herself in 1925.
What kind of book is The Game of Life and How to Play It?
It is a spiritual classic from 1925, written in the New Thought tradition. It is short, direct and practical, and each idea comes with a small practice you can try.
How many chapters are in the book?
There are ten: The Game, The Law of Prosperity, The Power of the Word, The Law of Nonresistance, The Law of Karma and the Law of Forgiveness, Casting the Burden, Love, Intuition or Guidance, Perfect Self-Expression or the Divine Design, and Denials and Affirmations.
What does it mean that life is a game and not a battle?
Shinn means that life has rules you can learn, and that struggling against everything is the hardest way to play. Her rules center on giving and receiving, and on trusting that what you send out returns.
What is the law of nonresistance?
It is the practice of not bracing against a situation. Shinn argues that resisting a problem gives it more power, so she suggests meeting it with calm and acting from there.
What is the power of the word?
It is the idea that what you say, and the pictures you hold in your mind, shape what you experience. Shinn gives spoken words and the imaging faculty a leading role in the game.
What are denials and affirmations?
A denial is a short statement that releases a fear or a false belief. An affirmation is a short statement that sets a direction. The final chapter gathers examples, and the workbook asks you to write your own.
Is this a religious book?
It draws heavily on the Bible and on the teachings of Jesus, and it shares ideas with New Thought and Christian Science. Readers from many backgrounds use it as a practical guide to inner work.
Where can I listen to the audiobook?
The audiobook is available in the Next Level Soul TV audio library. Follow the chapter titles in this guide as you listen.
How do I use the workbook?
Read or listen to one chapter, then answer its prompt in your own words. Your answers save on this device as you type, and the copy button gathers them so you can paste them into your own notes.
What should I read after this book?
Shinn wrote two more books, Your Word Is Your Wand in 1928 and The Secret Door to Success, which appeared shortly before her death in 1940. Our Laws They Don’t Teach audio course also draws on her work.
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